1 Sovereign - Victoria Pattern (1837)
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Year | 1837 |
| Denomination | 1 Sovereign |
| Face value | £1 |
| Mint | Royal Mint · Llantrisant |
| Series | Sovereign |
| Circulation | Non-circulating |
| Demonetised | Yes |
| Composition | Gold (.9167) (917/1000 fine) |
| Weight | 7.770g · 0.2290 t oz |
| Diameter | 22.1mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
| Obv. artist | William Wyon |
| Rev. artist | Jean Baptiste Merlen |
| Grade scale | UK (EF/UNC) |
Young uncrowned portrait of Queen Victoria left, legend around.
Crowned quartered shield of arms within wreath, legend around, national flower emblems below.
1 Sovereign - Victoria Pattern market value
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Daily limit reached1 Sovereign - Victoria Pattern value by grade
Realised auction prices · ⭐ Pro Expand rows for individual sale records| Grade | Latest | Median | 30d Δ | All-time range | Sales (1yr) | Total sales | Last sale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VF | £74,200.00 🔒 | £74,200.00 (1) | – | £74,200.00 – £74,200.00 | 0 | 1 | 19-07-2025 | |
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About the 1837 1 Sovereign - Victoria Pattern
The 1837 1 Sovereign - Victoria Pattern is a collector 1 sovereign coin in the Sovereign series, struck in 91.67% gold. It weighs 7.77g and measures 22.05mm across. Reverse design: Crowned quartered shield of arms within wreath, legend around, national flower emblems below.
It is no longer legal tender, so its value is to collectors only.
Common questions
How much is the 1837 1 Sovereign - Victoria Pattern worth?
The 1837 1 Sovereign - Victoria Pattern has a price in one grade on MyCoinage so far: £74,200 in VF, the median of its verified sales. Its gold content is worth about £686 at today's spot price, which puts a floor under its value.
What is the 1837 Victoria pattern sovereign?
A trial striking of the new sovereign prepared in the year Victoria came to the throne, before the design was approved on 26 February 1838. It pairs William Wyon's Young Head, with the date below, and a crowned shield of arms in a wreath. Regular sovereigns of this type are dated from 1838.
Why did Victoria's sovereign need a new reverse?
Earlier shield sovereigns carried the arms of Hanover. Under Hanover's Salic law a woman could not inherit that throne, so Victoria's accession ended the union and the Hanoverian arms had to come off the coinage. Both sides of the sovereign were redesigned.
Where can you see an 1837 pattern sovereign?
The Royal Mint Museum holds one (RMM 3739, gold, 7.58 g, plain edge), recorded in the Mint's 1874 and 1906 collection catalogues. Aberdeen Archives, Gallery and Museums holds another, bequeathed in 1919 by Andrew Henderson and viewable by appointment.
How do I identify the 1837 1 Sovereign - Victoria Pattern?
Check the weight 7.77g and diameter 22.05mm and the metal (91.67% gold) against the specification table on this page. The reverse design is described above.
History and design
Victoria became queen in 1837. Her accession ended the personal union of Britain and Hanover, since Hanover's Salic law barred a woman from its throne, so the Hanoverian arms that sat on the shield of the previous sovereigns had to go. Both sides of the coin were redesigned, and the new sovereign was approved on 26 February 1838.
This piece is a pattern for that coinage, dated 1837. The Royal Mint Museum's example, recorded in the Mint's own collection catalogues of 1874 and 1906, is in gold, weighs 7.58 g and has a plain edge. Aberdeen Archives, Gallery and Museums holds a second example, 22 mm across and weighing 7.8 g.
The obverse is William Wyon's Young Head of the Queen facing left, with the date below and the engraver's initials on the truncation. The Royal Mint Museum notes that the portrait approved for the coinage in 1838 takes pride of place among Wyon's portraits of Victoria, and that she kept it on her coins until she was in her late sixties.
The reverse shows the crowned royal shield within a wreath, with a rose and thistle below. Wikipedia records that Jean Baptiste Merlen engraved the reverse and likely had a hand in its design. On the circulating coins the shield type was struck in London until 1874.
Collecting notes
No number struck is recorded, and the two documented examples are in museum collections. Any example offered should be compared with them: gold, about 22 mm, with the date 1837 under the portrait, and a plain edge on the Royal Mint Museum piece. The year itself is the first check, since circulating Victorian sovereigns begin in 1838.
The issued coin, dated from 1838, is the Young Head shield sovereign.
Sources
The history, design, varieties and collecting notes on this page are drawn from these sources. Prices come from recorded sales, not from them.
- Victoria pattern sovereign, 1837 (RMM 3739), The Royal Mint Museum, via Museum Data Service (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Pattern Sovereign (Victoria), ABDMS019360, Aberdeen Archives, Gallery and Museums, via Museum Data Service (read 10 Oct 2026)
- Sovereign (British coin), Wikipedia (read 10 Oct 2026)
- William Wyon, Royal Mint Museum (read 10 Oct 2026)
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